Tripping on shrooms effective in treating anxiety, new study suggests - Polidicks

[url]http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/09/06/magic.mushrooms.ease.anxiety/index.html?hpt=T2[/url] [release]Terminally ill cancer patients struggling with anxiety may get some relief from a guided "trip" on the hallucinogenic drug psilocybin, a new study suggests. The study included 12 patients who took a small dose of psilocybin -- the active ingredient in "magic mushrooms" -- while under the supervision of trained therapists. In a separate session, the participants took a placebo pill, which had little effect on their symptoms. By contrast, one to three months after taking psilocybin the patients reported feeling less anxious and their overall mood had improved. By the six-month mark, the group's average score on a common scale used to measure depression had declined by 30 percent, according to the study, which was published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. In follow-up interviews with the researchers, some patients said their experience with psilocybin gave them a new perspective on their illness and brought them closer to family and friends. "We were pleased with the results," says the lead researcher, Charles Grob, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, in Torrance, Calif. Notably, the psilocybin did not aggravate the patients' anxiety or provoke any other unwanted effects besides a slight increase in blood pressure and heart rate. Grob's findings are "important because he's showing that you can administer these compounds safely to cancer patients with anxiety," says Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore. "They're not substances that should be used recreationally or casually, but nonetheless it appears that we can conduct research with these compounds safely," adds Griffiths, who was not involved in the study but has researched the therapeutic effects of psilocybin. (He and his colleagues are currently enrolling patients in a similar study that will use larger doses of the drug.) Researchers investigating the therapeutic potential of psilocybin and other hallucinogens have been keen to demonstrate the safety of the drugs in clinical settings. Psychiatrists and psychologists began exploring the effects of hallucinogens on the mood and anxiety of dying patients in the 1950s, but the research stopped abruptly when psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and other mind-altering drugs were outlawed in the 1970s. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a handful of small studies involving hallucinogens since the 1990s, but the field is still emerging. Grob's study is the first of its kind in more than 35 years. It was funded by private foundations and the Heffter Research Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, that has been a major sponsor of the second-generation hallucinogen research. The patients in the study were all close to death (10 of the 12 have since died), and they had all diagnoses of anxiety or acute stress relating to their prognosis. "We were really looking for people who were really struggling with the predicament that they found themselves in," Grob explains. During the psilocybin sessions, which lasted six hours, the patients lay on a couch and listened to music through headphones. Although they spoke only briefly to the therapists while under the influence of the drug, they continued to meet periodically with the research staff for six months to discuss their experience and to fill out questionnaires assessing their mood and anxiety levels. "I think we've established good grounds for continuing the research," Grob says. "That's the goal right now, just to develop more studies."[/release] How long until cancer patients can get prescriptions for medical mushrooms?

There are so many studies about illegal drugs being beneficial in some way going around now

Woohoo!

They've known that psilocybin an treat all sorts of mental illnesses, aswell as exxagerate them aswell, depending on the individual. Not enough is known about this wonderful chemical. Psilocybin, the active hallucinogenic chemical found in 'shrooms', can be used in minute doses to cure Migraine headaches. To this date we do not have many different prescriptions that combat the pain brought on by migraines, but yet the legality of psilocybin remains the same. Science and law are not synonymous, sadly.

"On a related note, I recently made a decision to suffer from anxiety, doctor."

Drugs are bad. Mmmmkay?

Yes, it may help the anxiety, along with other many other mental disorders (depending on the patient), but it doesn't treat the cancer; why was this studied on exclusively patients with cancer?

This doesn't sound like the best idea.

[QUOTE=MovingSalad;24664514]They've known that psilocybin an treat all sorts of mental illnesses, aswell as exxagerate them aswell, depending on the individual. Not enough is known about this wonderful chemical. [B]Psilocybin, the active hallucinogenic chemical found in 'shrooms', can be used in minute doses to cure Migraine headaches.[/B] To this date we do not have many different prescriptions that combat the pain brought on by migraines, but yet the legality of psilocybin remains the same. Science and law are not synonymous, sadly.[/QUOTE] :monocle: Sweet jesus brb getting some shrooms.

Doesn't same thing count for other psychedelics? LSD, 2C-B, MDMA? They all can treat atleast one thing (and can also be extreme fun and rewarding) But tripping on shrooms can also be anxiety inducing, constant terror and it can weaken persons psyche quite easily. Also counts for LSD But I don't think that happens to persons who are smart about that. [editline]01:56PM[/editline] [QUOTE=DienDwemar;24664954]This doesn't sound like the best idea.[/QUOTE] What do you think is best idea? Getting load of pills (heavy narcotics, anti-depresants and so on)?

[QUOTE=DienDwemar;24664954]This doesn't sound like the best idea.[/QUOTE] Heroin is used as a painkiller in hospitals, cocaine is used in membrane surgery, LSD was first synthesised in a lab and was proven by the CIA to increase creativity, concentration and problem solving capability. Fancy denying cancer patients something that could comfort them in their dying days? cunt move that is bro. And finally people aren't being pussies about drugs and the research now, research on LSD is opening back up as well now :v:

[QUOTE=bravehat;24665032]Heroin is used as a painkiller in hospitals, cocaine is used in membrane surgery, LSD was first synthesised in a lab and was proven by the CIA to increase creativity, concentration and problem solving capability. Fancy denying cancer patients something that could comfort them in their dying days? cunt move that is bro. And finally people aren't being pussies about drugs and the research now, research on LSD is opening back up as well now :v:[/QUOTE] Every drug and I mean every drug was at some point used as medical drug.

[QUOTE=Handsome Pete;24664645]"On a related note, I recently made a decision to suffer from anxiety, doctor."[/QUOTE] yeah me too can i have some mushrooms?

You think they will just hand out psychedelic substances at will? Wow, they'll give you the standard advice, get off your ass, find a new hobby and do shit that makes you enjoy life, just like they tell you if you're mildly depressed. And besides you'd need to be terminally ill for them to prescribe you shrooms, and this isn't them saying it will definitely be available, this is just them saying psilocybin can help anxiety,just like a lot of things can.

[QUOTE=KanonieR;24664337]There are so many studies about [B]illegal[/B] drugs being beneficial in some way going around now[/QUOTE] Not here :whip:

Heh, I remember seeing a guy fight a tree then get sick on it after taking some of them, he sure fixed his anxiety good.

[QUOTE=bravehat;24665032]And finally people aren't being pussies about drugs and the research now, research on LSD is opening back up as well now :v:[/QUOTE] Finally I can become good at [i]The Beatles: Rock Band[/i] !

[QUOTE=Prismatex;24664287] How long until cancer patients can get prescriptions for medical mushrooms?[/QUOTE] probably still a really long time

[QUOTE=Mabus;24665542]Heh, I remember seeing a guy fight a tree then get sick on it after taking some of them, he sure fixed his anxiety good.[/QUOTE] Then your friend is a fucking idiot, then. I've done mushrooms about a dozen times in the past year, and not once have I gotten sick or tried to fight a non-sentient object, or even a person or animal for that matter. THe last time I did them I sat on a beach, chased seagulls and drew in the wet sand, staring up at the sky and picking apart who I am, and who I think I am. These drugs, psychedelic drugs, should'nt be demonized by the world. If you can take the intensity of your own ego coming apart in front of your eyes when you're on these drugs, then why not consume them? Psilocybin can reveal psychological problems that already existed in you, but they cannot create them. Shrooms teach you about yourself, and if the knowledge learned on mushrooms allows you to change your perspective and solve anxiety, than good on you. I encourage interested, strong willed individuals to seek out drugs like these: LSD, mescaline or psilocybin mushrooms.

I'm just waiting for the world to wake up and legalize these drugs as true herbal medicine. They're less harmful and less destructive than these legal alternatives companies keep trying to push.

[QUOTE=ExplodingGuy;24664938]Yes, it may help the anxiety, along with other many other mental disorders[/QUOTE] Anxiety is a mental disorder? I thought it was common. Now I feel freakish. :smith:

[QUOTE=MovingSalad;24666639]Then your friend is a fucking idiot, then. I've done mushrooms about a dozen times in the past year, and not once have I gotten sick or tried to fight a non-sentient object, or even a person or animal for that matter.[/QUOTE] He is not a friend, thank god. But he is a fella we know from drinking. I actually have never seen anyone use shrooms in a way you described, it could be the locality where I live. The ones we have do things to your mind, anybody who I have seen picking them always go crazy, it's not a mellow experience. They could be a different kind of fungi or something. Also funny story. Soon after he lost the fight with the tree he rang his brother saying that a black ford fiesta was after him, he told him that he would be next and to save himself, then he passed out under a park bench. It was fucking hilarious.

It's all good until the couch agrees with the wall that killing everything is the only solution

[QUOTE=Mabus;24670711]He is not a friend, thank god. But he is a fella we know from drinking. I actually have never seen anyone use shrooms in a way you described, it could be the locality where I live. The ones we have do things to your mind, anybody who I have seen picking them always go crazy, it's not a mellow experience. They could be a different kind of fungi or something. Also funny story. Soon after he lost the fight with the tree he rang his brother saying that a black ford fiesta was after him, he told him that he would be next and to save himself, then he passed out under a park bench. It was fucking hilarious.[/QUOTE] Maybe they are fucking potent/strong. And that tends to make people lose reality.

Wait...so your saying all i gotta do to get rid of my anxiety problems is trip bawls on shrooms? shit sign me up!

I remember my DARE officer saying that marijuana and shrooms were the two common drugs without medical purposes :v:

What's next? Components in Meth could combat cancer?

fuck meth to create that shit u gotta add all kinds of nasty chemicals and boil it up and all that shroomies come from ~MoThEr EaRtH~ nothing wrong with that

[QUOTE=Funky Pickle;24668052]Anxiety is a mental disorder? I thought it was common. Now I feel freakish. :smith:[/QUOTE] Constant anxiety is, but anxiety brought about by imminent death isn't. Which is where I have issue in this, it is doing nothing to cure the cancer, just making the patient feel better.

[QUOTE=ExplodingGuy;24664938]Yes, it may help the anxiety, along with other many other mental disorders (depending on the patient), but it doesn't treat the cancer; why was this studied on exclusively patients with cancer?[/QUOTE] Because they are usually depressed, so that's actually kinda sad. :sigh: